Women of Blacktown 2025
Women of Blacktown 2025 is compilation of the stories of 25 influential women working or living in Blacktown Local Government area. The purpose of the book is not just to celebrate these stories but also to create a connected society that nurtures empathy, understanding, and belonging. This project originated from a thought to achieve social innovation, one story at a time.
It is a collaboration between Blacktown City Council, Blacktown City Libraries with The Stories Untold Collective sponsored by The Australian Catholic University, Blacktown Campus.
Compiled by: Emie Roy
Photographs by: Gerrie Mifsud
Editor: Sharon Rundle
Women of Blacktown 2025 committee:
Dr. Valentine Mukuria – Project Sponsor
Emie Roy – Compiler, Project Lead
Margaret Redrup-May – Advisor
Melissa Boceski – Advisor
The Light At the end of the tunnel
The Light at the end of the tunnel is a collection of real- life, pandemic time stories from 50 individuals across greater Sydney and Blue Mountains from various walks of life and cultural backgrounds, written in the last quarter of 2021.
This book was launched in May 2022 at the Bowman Hall, Blacktown, conducted in the presence of Hon Stephen Bali Member for Blacktown, emeritus chairperson of Multicultural NSW Dr G K Harinath, Hon Julia Finn MP and Jodi McKay, ex-leader of Parliament of NSW. Melissa Monteiro, CEO of CMRC and officials from Blacktown City Council and Westpoint also joined in.
This is a project undertaken in partnership with the Blacktown City Libraries, with support from Community Migrant resource Centre (CMRC) and Westpoint group.
The book has made its way to all of the libraries within NSW including the state library, to indyreads which is the digital lending platform and also to the National Library of Australia: See it here
Curator and co-editor: Emie Roy
Co-editor: Rajan Ramanathan
Design: Binu Varghese
Photography: Geevarghese Kollannur, Binumon Mathai, Amal Wilson, Moe Jwad
Cover Photography: Suresh Pokkattu